Night of the Black Moon
by TheLastKorosu
Summary: Konohagakure is not your average town. It might look normal in the day, but at night...well, that's where the action happens. Rated M for gore. Character death as well.


**Well, Here's a short story i finished recently.**

**I originally wrote it as an experiment in first person, but soon expanded into...well, this.**

**Hope you like it! And let me know what you think about it, anyway. Epilouge added.**

**Also, I don't own Naruto. The only things i own are my ideas.**

Night of the Black Moon

Konohagakure is not your average town. Oh, it looks normal during the daytime, but at night, well, that's a different story. You see, Konohagakure, or Konoha for short, is what the government calls 'a town for those who are different.' Many of the residents are not even human. Let me introduce you to some. Uchiha Sasuke and his elder brother Uchiha Itachi are both vampires. Incidentally, both of them have been trying to kill each other. For the last century. Neither has succeeded. Haruno Sakura and her close friend Yamanaka Ino are both fallen angels. One Hoshigaki Kisame, a close friend of Uchiha Itachi, is a failed genetic experiment in an attempt to blend shark and human DNA. Konoha is a refuge, nearly completely isolated in a deep forest. There is only one road in or out of the place. It is a haven for anyone who is different enough to stand out. Uzumaki Naruto is a fully fledged fox demon, with nine tails to boot. Gaara is a demon tanuki. However, they can only show their true natures at night. It is part of the deal the government. They provided the village and the surrounding forests, and in return, the 'creatures' must restrict their activities to the night time. So, during the day, the village is peaceful, calm. They engage in various activities to help the village survive. But the moment the sky gets dark, and the moon comes up, any visitors are issued this warning: Don't go outside. Lock your door. And whatever you do, don't listen to anything. Because when the sky is dark and the moon is bright, the villagers of Konoha shed their skins and show their real selves. As for me? Well, my name...actually, it's better if I don't say it right now. I'm just as abnormal as the rest of them though. I'm what most people would call a 'banshee'- I can amplify my voice to levels that can shatter windows and eardrums. Like the others, I came to Konoha because I simply had nowhere else to go. However, shattering things is not my only talent. I can also, to some extent, use my voice to make people believe things that are not necessarily real. I call that my 'illusion songs.' I've lived in Konoha for about four months now, and have come to know the residents fairly well in that time, remembering their names, powers, and real identities. My daytime job is an accountant, helping manage the village's budget. I only have a few real friends, and most of them are females. That all changed when _he_ arrived. A demon going by the name of Ryuzaki. Just Ryuzaki. To be honest, when I first saw him, he scared the living shit out of me.

"OMG, did you see that new resident? He's so hot!" Three guesses as to who said this and the first two don't count. Yep. Ino had gone boy crazy again.

"Ino, must you drool over any remotely good looking guy that wanders into this town? You don't even know what he is yet." Said Sakura, shaking her pink hair.

"So, it doesn't matter! He's not as pretty as Sasuke-kun, but he's more handsome, in a rugged sense."

"Ino-san," put in the shyest of our group, Hyuuga Hinata, a werewolf. "You don't even know his name yet. Besides, something about him unnerves me."

"Yeah, I agree with you on that, Hinata-san." I put in. "I can honestly say that he scares me."

"Even you?" I nodded, as Ino sipped her last drink for the day, Hinata put down her water glass, and Sakura raised her hand for the check.

"Look, all I'm saying, is just stay away from him until we know what he can do." I finished, as Sakura paid the bill, and a chubby Akimichi (Never call them fat. You will earn at least three months in the intensive care unit) took care of the dishware. He winked at Ino, and she smiled back.

"Well, girls, as fun as this has been, I need to get ready for tonight. Are you coming out, Hinata?" said Sakura. The Hyuuga took one look at the sky, and then shook her head in a positive motion. Perhaps I should explain a bit more. The nights are essentially a free-for-all fight that encompasses the entire town. Some matches are guaranteed, like the two Uchiha brothers, and Naruto and the younger of said brothers. There are some alliances, though. Gaara, Naruto and a few others never attack each other, though they do make pains to get out of each other's way. Us four, as in me, Hinata when she comes, Sakura and Ino usually stick together. We tend to only pick battles that we know we can win; otherwise we tend to simply do reconnaissance. But, the most important thing to know during these night time brawls is who the 'Untouchables' are. The 'Untouchables' are people who no matter who you are; you will lose if you face them. Uchiha Itachi has been at the top of the list ever since he came here with his brother. Much to the younger brother's disdain, Uzumaki Naruto is also on that list, but with a condition: must be using at least one full tail. Most of Naruto's loose alliance is also on there, but Naruto himself is the highest of them all. The list is updated about every three days, and is placed in full view in the village market place. It almost hasn't changed even in the four months I've been here.

_Dong._ Ah, yes, the curfew bell. After the last ring, everyone who isn't a monster, or doesn't want to be involved in the fighting, must be inside, or else you must either fight or somehow survive until morning.

_Dong._ It is not unheard of for civilians to survive the night, but it is rare. In fact, the last time it happened was about four years ago.

_Dong._ Once the last ring is finished, then the night officially begins, and the fighting can start in earnest. Look, over there, the crows take flight, knowing what's coming. The moon is beginning to come over the horizon, as the sun's rays fade.

_Dong._ There are three main types of beings here. There are the seasonal ones, much like Hinata as she is at the moment, who can only change when certain conditions are met, like a full moon. However, when she turns 18, she will be able to change at will. Until then, she can only participate once a month.

_Dong._ The second type is ones like me, where the powers are simply suppressed during the day and unleashed at night, sometimes with an accompanying transformation, sometimes not. I happen to be in the latter category.

_Dong._ The final type is referred to as 'The Ancients'. These are the beings from long ago, the stuff that nightmares are made of. Mythical creatures, beings of immense power. Banshees, vampires, werewolves are all classed as new compared to them. The Ancients type consists of fallen Angels, demons and of course, the Bijuu like Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara. However, as anyone of them will tell you, they might have near unparalled power, but little to no control over said power. And there goes the last bell.

"Power limiter, release! Scream of the Ages!" I let out a terrifying shriek that echoed over the town, causing windows to vibrate and rattle. This was effectively the final warning. Limiters are being released now, get inside. All over the village, as the sun vanished beneath the horizon, there were power spikes all over the place, as various limiters were undone. However, the scream also serves another purpose: to gather my allies to me. Within seconds of the scream dying out, Sakura and Ino gently floated down to beside me, hair suddenly long, loose and flowing. Wings gently folded as they set down. Soon after, a compact, but still reasonably large animal loped to beside us. Its fur was a deep midnight blue and it had the violet eyes of Hinata. This was her wolf form.

"Well," growled the wolf, and yet it still managed to sound like Hinata, "Shall we get going?" we all nodded.

"Die, Brother!" Yelled Sasuke, as he charged at the Elder Uchiha, hand crackling with lightning. Itachi calmly sidestepped, and kicked Sasuke in the side. The younger brother grunted with pain, but the lightning remained. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"You've been practising, Sasuke."

"You bet I have, Brother. Come and get some." The two brothers re engaged in their fight.

"Come on; let's get going before they find us." Whispered Sakura. She might be in the Ancient group, but she herself was fairly young, as with Ino. And as they were moving away from the Uchiha Brother's fight, they felt it. It was suddenly like the air weighed a ton, and it was hard to even breathe, let alone think or move. Hinata partially shifted back to human form, so great was the pressure. I gasped and nearly collapsed. As it was, I bent over, trying to breathe.

"Who...could produce an aura this potent?" gasped out Ino.

"I...can't...find the source." Murmured Hinata, struggling to regain her were-form. And then, just like that, it vanished. We straightened up, breathing heavily.

"Who was that? Even fully powered Naruto can't produce an aura that potent. It was like the shinigami just appeared."

"I actually have an idea on who did that. Let's see if we can't find Ryuzaki"

"You think he did it?" said Ino.

"Something tells me that if he wasn't the cause, he knows who it is." We began to search as quickly as we could. We eventually found Ryuzaki standing in the middle of the street, and some of the lesser beings completely surrounding him. Then we felt it again. It was much worse when experienced this close. We all doubled over, gasping for breath, and Hinata fully shifted back. But, however bad we had it, it was nothing compared to the group it was actually directed against. The lesser beings began to grovel, and then...red. lots and lots of red. It sprayed in every direction, coated every surface possible and the ground ran slick with it. Ino wiped her face.

"My god...so much blood..." Then we heard it. It started as a quiet chuckle, but soon devolved into a full blown laughing fit. Ryuzaki was actually laughing as he killed. We watched as another lesser being ran towards him, intent on killing him. With a few swift moves, Ryuzaki had the person across his back, one hand in each of his. He folded forwards, and pulled his arms together. There was another spray of blood. We stared, shocked at the brutality. Ino shook in terror, and tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, there's something that you should know."

"What?"

"He's an Ancient."

"What!?"

"We can sense each other. It's how I always know where Sakura is. This guy feels the same, but different. More savage. Sharper. Sakura feels like a steel petal. Soft, sharp but still soft. This guy feels like the edge of a serrated sword. He even feels brutal. I want to get out of here. NOW." I nodded, and we retreated as fast as we could. However, we were not quite fast enough. Ino was grabbed, and then held, wrists in one hand, ankles in the other. Ryuzaki grinned, showing long serrated fangs. Two horns emerged from just below his hairline, and his hair was white now. His eyes glowed a bright red. He began to laugh.

"Please...don't kill us" Murmured Sakura. "We've done nothing to antagonise you, so please let us go." Even I could feel it now. This was no ordinary Ancient. This was someone who knew their power like an old friend. Probably older than all of us combined and then some, he could have quite easily slaughtered most of the village without breaking a sweat. He let Ino drop, and flew off, giant bat-like wings providing the lift.

"Some people simply want to cause chaos, to revel in the destruction of the world. I have a funny feeling that this 'Ryuzaki' or whatever the hell his real name is, is one of those people. And I cannot shake this feeling that our doom is upon us." I said, as I wrote in my diary, a practice from my younger days.

"He is far too powerful to be roaming free. Either he cannot successfully be restrained once his power is unleashed, or he has a purpose here. He must be stopped, before he destroys us all." I finished the sentence, closed the book, and went to bed. Twice that night I was woken up by that ungodly aura that signified mass slaughter. I could almost hear his laugh in my head. No, in fact I COULD hear his laughter. It was carrying from his current area of death and destruction. Every night it was the same, I, and probably a fair few other people around the city would wake to that dreadful aura, and that insane laugh. it wasn't long before Ryuzaki was tied for the first place Untouchable with Uchiha Itachi. Itachi simply accepted that Ryuzaki had skills that he did not, and so deserved to have that position. Unlike his younger, and much more arrogant brother, Itachi accepted that he was not the most powerful being in the world, and that some of the more powerful creatures out there were in this village.

--------

It was another week after Ryuzaki had reached the tied top spot that we decided to go out again. Since it was not the full moon, and Hinata's eighteenth birthday was still a long way away, she wasn't coming. Ino also refused to come along, giving the excuse that she needed the sleep. I and Sakura both knew that her encounter with Ryuzaki had left her more shaken up than she liked to admit. She had been literally a heartbeat from death, and that takes a while to recover from.

"Stay still, I want to remove your kidneys."

"YEARRRGHHH!"

"Oops, missed." Jeez, that guy was sadistic. He had attempted to remove a random guy's kidneys with his bare hands. Instead, he merely got a massive wet bloody lump of flesh and muscle in each hand. Then, Ryuzaki stopped his slaughter for a while, and looked at the moon. He frowned for a moment, the elongated shadows accenting the motion.

"It's nearly time again..." he said, and then he smirked. "Four hundred years... four hundred years since last time..." he then leapt off, searching for someone else to kill. Both mine and Sakura's brows furrowed in concentration. What had happened four hundred years ago that had him so happy? We decided to research the matter the next day.

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"Are you sure it was four hundred he said?"

"For the last time, Hinata, yes!" I half yelled. We were in the library, after all. Hinata was pouring over some ancient scrolls, having learnt the language they had been written in, while the rest of us stuck with ancient history books. We weren't sure exactly what we were looking for, only that it was four hundred years ago. After going through what felt like every possible history book, scroll and document for that period, Ino suddenly had a thought.

"Guys, why don't we try the Mythology section? It's not like whatever happened would be recorded in anything but legends." Our eyes widened as a collective. Of course! Ryuzaki was a demon, and according to the history texts, demons didn't exist. Mythology was our best bet. We moved over to the section, and began to pull every legend involving demons, and four hundred years ago. It was about half way through our renewed search that we struck gold.

"Hey, listen to this. 'It was on the first new moon of the sixth month, which occurred on the sixth day, and so happened to be the sixth new moon of the year. Out in the former rain country, there once was a village, located near a volcano crater, long extinct. In this village, there was a ritual that one young man and one young woman would be killed on the rim of the crater, and then thrown down, so as to appease the god that lived in the blackness. However, one year, the ritual was forgotten, due to famine in the land and disease ruining the crops. All was well until that fateful night. As the town settled down to slumber, a black moon rose, and sucked all the light from the village. Then, in the inky blackness, a manifestation of the god came from the crater. No one knows what it looked like, but it was heard. A dreadful cry, like a wounded animal rang across the land, followed by laughter that resonated for miles. The people in the nearest village to that one sent a group of warriors to investigate what had happened the next day. What they found was horrifying. The entire village had been slaughtered, down to the last child. Not even the animals had been spared. The buildings had been burned, crops destroyed and the very earth defiled so that nothing would grow again, the water poisoned and the stench of death permeated the air. Three men, who had ventured up to the crater to see it, two of them were never seen again. The third man, who barely managed to make it back to the destroyed village spoke briefly of glowing eyes, long fangs and fingers as sharp as knives and hard as steel. He died of his wounds shortly after. The remaining men then returned to their own village, telling no one to go there again, unless they had a death wish. In time, that particular village became known as 'Hell's village', and the crater itself was called 'Hell's Gate'. No one has ever survived going up to the crater.' I'd say that's what we're looking for, wouldn't you?" Said Sakura. We all nodded. Suddenly, something seemed to click in all of us.

"Hey, It's May right now, isn't it?" Ino nodded.

"The 28th."

"So, how far away is the sixth of June?" asked Sakura

"About eight or nine days away." Ino replied

"And the moon's waning at the moment, isn't it?" I inquired.

"Yeah..." replied Hinata.

"So when do you think the new moon will come?" me again.

"In eight or nine days..." Hinata trailed off, realising the implications of that little statement.

"So in another ten days..." Started Sakura.

"Konoha will be wiped out." I finished. "We need to tell Tsunade."

-----------------------------

"I'm sorry girls, but I can't just throw him out on the basis of a four hundred year old ghost story." Said Tsunade, one of the older beings in the village, and current leader. Tsunade was a witch herself, and used her magic to make herself look younger.

"Now, if you could find conclusive proof that he is a definite threat besides the legends, I would gladly approve your request. But otherwise, I'm sorry, I have to deny your request. He has not done anything directly against this village yet." We all nodded, and walked out of the offices. We decided to head for a restaurant, as none of us had eaten yet. Sitting down in a small restaurant, we ordered some dango and warm tea. Just as our order came, Uchiha Itachi came in, and sat down a few tables away.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" said Ino

"Probably not, Ino, since all you think about is how hot a guy is." We all giggled at Ino's expense, while the angel in question pouted.

"What I'm suggesting is we ask Itachi if he knows anything. He's been around a lot longer than any of us, and a couple of us combined. He probably knows something that can help." Explained Ino. Hinata nodded, and got up.

"I'll ask him. I can best explain our dilemma." Hinata walked over to the elegant vampire, and then spoke to him for a while. After a surprisingly short time, Itachi got up, and came over and sat by us, dragging a chair over.

"So, as I understand it, you wish to save Konoha by getting Ryuzaki out of the town until this event has passed." We all nodded.

"And you want to know if I have ever seen an event like this in my life?" we nodded again.

"I have not actually witnessed this event, but I have seen the aftermath. Ryuzaki is...shall we say...a formidable opponent. He is nigh unbeatable. You might try asking him to leave during the time, but he is more likely to stay just to piss you off. That, and he'll wonder where you got the information."

"Itachi, how do you know so much about him?"

"We have crossed paths before." Replied the vampire, cautiously. He then took his leave.

"So, Itachi apparently knows Ryuzaki, and what he can do when he does that event." I said. We all frowned in thought. Itachi had obviously recognised Ryuzaki when he was introduced to the town, but had said nothing to Tsunade about the event. What was up with that? Did he _want_ Konoha to be destroyed? No, Itachi loved Konoha. We were all thinking these things, but no one said them out loud.

The next night, Sakura, Ino and I were again watching Ryuzaki.

"Is it just me, or is he getting more brutal?" Said Ino

"He's getting more brutal." Both Sakura and I replied in unison. We continued to watch, looking for anything that might help us stop him eventually. We continued this for several nights, until there was only three days before the event supposedly took place. We decided to all stay home, resting and getting ready for what we knew would be one of the hardest fights of our lives. Demons were hard to fight, and even harder to beat. We once again pleaded our case with Tsunade, begging her to at least send him out of the village until it had passed. Again, she refused to do so without substantial proof.

That night, Ryuzaki got more violent again, and the aura was even more potent, but it felt different. It was more bloody, for lack of a better word. The next day, I went to see Tsunade again.

"I told you before, I can't send him away without substantial proof"

"I'm not here about that. I want you to come with us tonight, and just watch what he does. Just watch him, and then make your decision."

And so, that night, Tsunade accompanied me, Sakura and Ino, Hinata not being able to change yet, stayed home. It didn't take us that long to seek out Ryuzaki. The moon was barely a silver sliver in the sky. All of us watched in horror as Ryuzaki commenced his nightly slaughter. Blood flew everywhere, and even spattered across our faces we stood shocked, as Itachi faced Ryuzaki, as the demon stood up from where he'd been eating some poor guy's internal organs.

"Itachi. I'm surprised you have the guts to challenge me this close to the event."

"I am not here to fight. I merely wish to request a favour. Do not harm the Bijuu."

"No asylum for yourself?"

"It is time for me to move on. I have seen all I wish to." Ryuzaki considered this for a few moments.

"I will see what I can do. No guarantees." Itachi nodded, and vanished into the blackness of the night. We were perplexed by this event. Why did Itachi want Ryuzaki to leave the Bijuu alone? There was something going on here, something none of us knew about. Then we fully realised. Tomorrow was the date of the supposed destruction of the village.

------------------------------------------------

Dawn. The day was finally here, when we would supposedly no longer exist after tonight. I sighed, and got up to face the day. Unless, by some freak of nature, the moon was still visible tonight, our village was going to be wiped off the face of the earth by this time tomorrow. I only prayed that somehow, our story would be made known to the rest of the world. The day itself was bright, and sunny, and completely at odds with what was going to happen that night. My friends and I all took the day off our respective jobs, claiming the excuse that we were going on holiday after tonight. Surprisingly, our bosses accepted it. We spent the day just relaxing, talking and so forth. Then the sun began to set. We all grimaced as we heard the first curfew bell toll. It wasn't like it would matter now. We all anxiously looked up towards the sky, looking for any hint of a moon. No such luck. As the sun dipped below the horizon, and the sky turned red...nothing happened. Admittedly, we weren't exactly sure what was supposed to happen, but it obviously wasn't happening just yet. The sky got progressively darker and darker, and still no hint of a moon.

"Well guys, It's been nice knowing you." I said, hugging them tightly. They responded in kind, and that's when it happened. The sky turned black, and every light in the village winked out in an ever expanding circle. It didn't take long for the entire village to be totally black. Then the screams started. We saw shadows of people running past us to the source of the screams, and we followed too. We found ourselves running alongside, of all people, Uchiha Sasuke. We eventually reached the area where the screams were coming from. What we saw there horrified us to the bone. It was Ryuzaki...sort of. Though he looked like he normally did at night, he felt different, like he'd regressed back to the most basic instincts: kill everything. Sasuke charged at the demon, lightning crackling in his palm. One swipe of a viciously clawed hand removed Sasuke's lower jaw, and the second tore his head clean off his shoulders with a spray of blood. Ino gasped. Unfortunately, that seemed to draw his attention to her, and even as we ran, I looked back, and saw that Ino had been caught by the demon, who was smirking sadistically, as he pulled on Ino's hands and feet, eventually ripping her into two pieces with a shower of blood. We watched in ever growing horror as the blood sprayed and Ryuzaki laughed. We watched our closest friends die, along with people we previously believed to be invincible. Uchiha Itachi, though, had simply stood there as Ryuzaki had torn him limb from limb and then drank the blood. I happened to glance at my watch. It wasn't running. Somehow, temporarily, in Konoha, Time had stopped. Barely glancing back, I made a run for the gates. Hopefully, I could make it in time. I heard Sakura's and Hinata's screams as they too were murdered brutally by this...thing from the underworld. Suddenly, it got quiet. Too quiet. I stopped running momentarily, trying to sense if anyone else was still alive. I unfortunately never got the chance, as Ryuzaki stalked up behind me, and thrust his clawed hand through my stomach, tearing my internal organs to shreds, but somehow miraculously missing my spine. I kept crawling; stumbling anyway I could towards the gates of Konoha. I knew I wouldn't survive much longer, as the screams started again, though much further away, and more scattered. I guessed that he had moved onto the civilians, and was now going from house to house. I finally reached the massive gates of Konoha, and finding them open, began to write a message on the outer side with the first thing available- my own blood.

"Do Not Enter, only death waits inside. Signed..." I could feel my life draining from me even as my fingers dipped into my wound again, making me wince in pain. I would do this. I had to.

"Tenten, Banshee of Konoha."

Black overcame everything.

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Ryuzaki watched as the brown haired banshee collapsed after signing her name after the warning on the gate, bloody fingers leaving a trail off the last letter down to where the girl lay prone on the ground, dead, now and forever. Grinning, Ryuzaki stalked off into the night once more. He had more people to kill.

Epilouge: many years later...

I watched as the tall man stalked into our village. Only yesterday, I had heard of an old ghost story about the town that used to be where ours is currently. It had said that once every few hundred years, a god in human form walks the earth, killing everything on the night of the Black Moon, which is the sixth new moon of the year, and has to fall on the sixth of June as well. Like most of our Mythology class, I dismissed it as a ghost story to scare little kids. Odd. He looked almost exactly like the picture in the story...

_Fin._

**Well, Let me know what you think. Read and review.**

**Signing off, IamtheReaper**


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